Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Better Late Than Never.

That is how I feel about this year's vegetable gardening efforts. There is still so much to be done. I visited our local Fred Meyers (Krogers), yesterday, to look for veggie starts. There was a pitiful selection. Lots of tomatoes (which I do not need), a few types of squash (only one of which interested me) and some hot peppers. I came home with 3 additions to the garden. I planted the butternut squash back in the far corner of the fence. This area is always a weed patch and the squash plant should help with that. Here it will have plenty of room to grow.

I also planted two types of peppers, jalapeno (top) and cayenne (bottom). If the cayenne plant thrives I should never have to buy ground cayenne again. I planted the peppers with the tomatoes. I read somewhere that they make good companions. The peppers enjoy the extra humidity from the bushy tomatoes.

I am still working on weeding the back garden and removing the sod from installing the edging. I worked on it quite a bit last night, until I could barely stand up straight. Still not finished. However the lovage plant benefited from my efforts. It is freed up from it's grassy bonds. I even fertilized the poor neglected thing. Lovage is an interesting relative to celery. You don't hear much about it in this country but it is popular in Europe. It is a perennial, which is nice because you can count on it to reappear, year after year. It tastes a bit like celery and can be used similarly. I am going to try some potato lovage soup in the near future.

Also FINALLY in the ground are these refugees from the cold frame. I believe I planted the lettuce and green onion WAY back in March. They were seeded indoors and have been clinging to life ever since. They need to be rewarded for their tenacity. I will eat them proudly.

I know you may think me crazy, but I am also planting some seeds. Who knows? They may surprise me. I have put in green beans and cucumbers thus far. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.